Former A&P exec sentenced to three years in ticket scheme

A former senior vice president of marketing for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. told a federal judge Thursday that greed motivated him to pocket $1.2 million from the supermarket chain even while the company had just filed for bankruptcy protection.

"If only I could have resisted the greed that compelled my crime, but I didn't for whatever reason," said John R. Moritz, who worked for Montvale-based A&P from 2010 to 2012. "I am ashamed by what I've done, and I alone am responsible for my disgrace and my dishonor."

For admitting to a scheme in which Moritz used company funds to buy tickets to events such as Lady Gaga concerts and Giants games and then resold them, U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty imposed a three-year prison sentence. Moritz, 45, a former resident of Clifton who now lives in Illinois, must also make $3.2 million in restitution, of which he has paid back $1.2 million.

During the three-hour sentencing in federal court in Newark, McNulty said he varied from a recommended sentence of between 41 months and 51 months because he considered factors raised by federal prosecutors and Moritz's attorneys. Among the defense attorneys' arguments were that their client's risky behavior was fueled by a longtime struggle with alcoholism and the pressures of living in New Jersey, away from his family, which included seven children.

Yet the judge also recognized there was a strong need to deter others from committing similar crimes and that Moritz abused his position of trust and thwarted attempts by A&P officials to investigate the expenditures.

Federal prosecutors have said that between December 2010 and December 2011, Moritz arranged for A&P to buy some 7,000 tickets to high-priced sporting events and concerts, such as the 2011 Super Bowl, Yankees playoff games and Broadway shows. He then resold those tickets to third parties over the Internet without A&P's knowledge or consent.

To cover up the scheme, Moritz instructed ticket vendors to send the tickets to his Clifton residence or hand-deliver them to him. He also told ticket vendors to issue invoices only in amounts less than $100,000 in order to stay within his authorized invoice approval level as a senior vice president.

The tickets were supposed to be used to reward A&P employees for good work, prosecutors have said. Instead, Moritz spent the money on mortgage payments, a down payment for a home in Washington State and to buy jewelry, airplane flights, hotel stays and groceries.

Upon first meeting with his attorneys, Moritz acknowledged his guilt and told them he wanted to resolve the case, they said. That led to a plea in federal court in March in which Moritz admitted guilt to one count of wire fraud and agreed to pay back $3.2 million – the amount of the company's funds used to buy the tickets.

Moritz was overwhelmed by remorse and was fearful for his future and that of his family, said his attorney, Lawrence S. Feld.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Lakshmi Srinivasan Hermann said Moritz filled his pockets with A&P money at the same time the company was in financial straits, and had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2012, needed to account for every penny it had, she said.

"His behavior was egregious, especially when viewed with what was happening at A&P during his tenure," she said. "Arguably, some of the money, had he not stolen it, could have been allocated elsewhere."

Christopher McGarry, chief administrative officer for A&P who spoke at the sentencing, said he was alerted to irregular expenses authorized by Moritz in August 2011. But Moritz not only refused requests to provide documentation to substantiate the expenses, he also lied to McGarry, who served then as general counsel, to cover up his actions.

"The breach of trust was the most unfortunate aspect out of all of these events," McGarry said.

John T. Niccollai, president of the Little Ferry-based Local 464A of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents A&P workers, also told the judge that his local had made significant concessions such as wage cuts during the time the company filed its bankruptcy claim and while Moritz was stealing from the company.

"When I look at what we could have done with this money in terms of getting some of those things back, I find it appalling," he said.